TORONTO, May 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Editorial cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon has been named the first-ever National Newspaper Awards Journalist of the Year, chosen from among 22 NNA winners announced Friday night at a gala dinner in Toronto.

The Globe and Mail took top honours at the ceremony, with five awards. Six other organizations won two awards each: the Canadian Press, the Hamilton Spectator, the Moncton Times & Transcript, the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star and the Vancouver Sun.

The Edmonton Journal, the Halifax Chronicle Herald, the National Post, the Toronto Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press also won awards, in a year that recognized journalistic excellence from coast to coast.

MacKinnon, of the Halifax Chronicle Herald, won in Editorial Cartooning for a portfolio that included a powerful image of a Canadian veteran stepping down from the National War Memorial to claim the fallen body of Corporal Nathan Cirillo. The cartoon became the iconic image representing the shooting on Parliament Hill last October, after it was picked up and published around the world.

It was MacKinnon's fourth NNA win for Editorial Cartooning; he has had eight nominations in the category.

This is the first year the National Newspaper Awards have designated a Journalist of the Year. MacKinnon was chosen from among the 22 category winners, with the decision made by a panel of previous NNA laureates.

All category winners received cheques for $1,000 and a certificate of award. Other finalists received citations of merit. The Journalist of the Year is awarded $2,500.

The National Newspaper Awards are open to daily newspapers, news agencies and online news sites approved for entry by the NNA Board of Governors. Seventy-one finalists were nominated in the 22 categories, selected from 1,297 entries published in 2014. Of 63 newspapers and online news sites to submit entries, 24 organizations had nominations in the 66th year of the prestigious awards.

Following is a list of winners and finalists:

Arts and Entertainment

WINNER: Vinay Menon, Toronto Star, for a profile of CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge, a look at the Beatles' 1964 visit to Toronto, and Jeopardy! as a pop culture phenomenon FINALISTS: Simon Houpt, Globe and Mail, for his examination of parasitic enterprises, content thieves, and the online efforts of a former radio shock jock Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail, for a profile of prison book clubs, the effects of the arts on the human brain, and boosting Canadian production with profits from sales of spectrum rights

Beat Reporting

WINNER: Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun, for coverage of crime FINALISTS: San Grewal, Toronto Star, for coverage of urban affairsNick Martin, Winnipeg Free Press, for coverage of educationJane Sims, London Free Press, for coverage of justice and the courts

Breaking News

WINNER: Canadian Press team for coverage of the shooting on Parliament Hill FINALISTS: Globe and Mail (Josh Wingrove, Steven Chase, Ann Hui, Joe Friesen and Ian Brown) for capturing the drama of the shooting on Parliament HillMoncton Times & Transcript team for coverage of the shooting rampage that left three RCMP officers dead and two woundedMontreal La Presse team for coverage of the deliberate ramming of two Canadian Forces soldiers in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu

Business

WINNER: Grant Robertson, Globe and Mail, for his series on the government's effort to move marijuana sales from the back alley to the capital markets FINALISTS: Tavia Grant, Globe and Mail, for her investigation into asbestos, the single-biggest workplace killer in CanadaMartin Regg Cohn, Toronto Star, for his coverage of The Beer Store and its retail monopoly in Canada's biggest province

Columns

WINNER: Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun, for columns on marriage, playing catch, and weddings FINALISTS: Russell Wangersky, St. John's Telegram, for columns on violent assault, memory, and journalism today Konrad Yakabuski, Globe and Mail, for columns on assisted suicide, the loonie, and Tim Cook

WINNER: Kevin Rollason, Winnipeg Free Press, for his study of bed shortages, clogged emergency rooms and the role racism plays in Manitoba hospitals FINALISTS: Marie-Claude Malboeuf, Montreal La Presse, for her examination of the hidden marketplace within the web, often called "the deep web" Josh Wingrove and Chris Hannay, Globe and Mail, for their explanation of Bill C-23, the Fair Elections Act, which changes the rules for voters, candidates, parties and the people whose job it is to make sure elections are fair

Feature Photo

WINNER: Julie Oliver, Ottawa Citizen, for an image that tells the story of a young boy's struggle with skin disease FINALISTS: John Lehmann, Globe and Mail, for a photo of staff and students watching a spectacular Aurora Borealis Lucas Oleniuk, Toronto Star, for capturing a dove landing and returning to its loft

International

WINNER: Mark MacKinnon, Globe and Mail, for coverage of the conflict in Ukraine and the angry resurgence of Vladimir Putin's RussiaFINALISTS: Scott Simmie, Toronto Star, for stories on the experience of migrants fleeing North AfricaJennifer Wells, Toronto Star, for revisiting the horror of Bhopal, site of the world's worst industrial accident

Investigations

WINNER: Jon Wells, Hamilton Spectator, for "Remorseless," a look into how a brutal murderer was created, and what led to his implosion and conviction FINALISTS: Kevin Donovan, Jesse Brown and Jacques Gallant, Toronto Star, for their investigation of allegations of sexual assault by CBC Host Jian GhomeshiKatia Gagnon, Montreal La Presse, for her investigation into the permissiveness on the part of general practitioners and pharmacists in dispensing morphineJennifer O'Brien, Kate Dubinski, Randy Richmond, Derek Ruttan and Jonathan Sher, London Free Press for peeling back the layers of a group home fire story to reveal a shocking neglect of mentally ill residents in Ontario

Local Reporting

WINNER: Moncton Times & Transcript team, for coverage of a shooting rampage that left three RCMP officers dead and two woundedFINALISTS: Tim Smith, Brandon Sun, for an intimate story of a family struggling with cancerChristine Morris, New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal, for a three-part series on Lyme disease in New Brunswick

Long Feature

WINNER: Patrick White, Globe and Mail, for "Solitary: A Death Sentence," revealing a corrections system out of step with much of the developed world FINALISTS: Christopher Curtis, Montreal Gazette, for "On Patrol in Opitciwan," shadowing a First Nation police force as it confronts poverty, substance abuse and crowded living conditions Sandra Martin, Globe and Mail, for "Kim's Choice," the story of a hardworking Ontario family beset by Huntington's Disease Barb Pacholik, Regina Leader Post, for "Betrayal: What do you do when you discover your friend is a pedophile?"

Multimedia Feature

WINNER: Teri Pecoskie, Hamilton Spectator, for a five-part series uncovering the connections between standardized test scores and a range of social and economic factors FINALISTS: Gabrielle Duchaine and Caroline Touzin, Montreal La Presse, for a three-part interactive look at crime in all its facets in Quebec and MontrealToronto Star team, for coverage commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, including a walk of the Western Front

News Feature Photo

WINNER: Andrew Vaughan, Canadian Press, for a photo of the funeral procession for three RCMP officers killed in the line of duty in MonctonFINALISTS: Peter Power, Canadian Press, for his photo of the son of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo waving a flag at the funeral of his father Peter Power, Canadian Press, for his image depicting two dogs peering out from beneath the fence at Cpl. Nathan Cirillo's house

News Photo

WINNER: Viktor Pivovarov, Moncton Times & Transcript, for a dramatic image of the shooter in MonctonFINALISTS: Tony Caldwell, Ottawa Sun, for a photo of a topless protester confronting the archbishop of QuebecWayne Cuddington, Ottawa Citizen, for capturing the willingness of strangers to help a fallen soldier

Politics

WINNER: Sean Fine, Globe and Mail, for digging deep to describe the selection process for Supreme Court justices FINALISTS: Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail, for looking into the dispersal of $200 million dealing with veterans' mental health issues Vincent Marissal, Montreal La Presse, for describing how the Parti Québecois came to adopt a radical Charter of Quebec Values

WINNER: Globe and Mail team for chronicling the physical, mental and financial toll of thalidomide, a Canadian public-health disaster that had faded from the public's memory FINALISTS: Susan Zielinski and Myles Fish, Red Deer Advocate, for a project on the Michener Centre, one of Canada's last large institutional homes for the mentally challenged Jessica Barrett, Calgary Herald, for a five-part series examining how the way our relationship to work in Canada is fundamentally changing Toronto Star team for creating an in-depth discussion with the citizens of Toronto to identify the civic issues they cared about most

Short Feature

WINNER: Shelley Page, Ottawa Citizen, for a reappraisal of what it was like to be a woman reporting on the Polytechnique massacre FINALISTS: Michèle Ouimet, Montreal La Presse, for an intimate portrait of a former municipal politician stricken with cancer Michelle Shephard, Toronto Star, for shedding light on the ongoing tragedy that is Somalia

Sports

WINNER: Jim Coyle, Steve Russell, Paul Hunter and Jim Rankin, Toronto Star, for stories that provided an up-close look at two local hockey teams and how the game is lived by the players and experienced by the communities in which they play FINALISTS: Gabriel Béland, Montreal La Presse, for stories on the consequences of a concussion on a minor league hockey player, a triple-A midget team opening its locker room to seven First Nation players, and how a soldier wounded in Afghanistan kept a hold on life through hockeyJoe O'Connor, National Post, for his coverage of an African-American inner-city high school football team and its white coach, a story about race relations in America that needed to be heard above the roar of Ferguson

Sports Photo

WINNER: Stan Behal, Toronto Sun, for a photo capturing the desperation of a tennis player trying to get the ball over the net FINALISTS: Ric Ernst, The Province/Vancouver Sun, for a photo showing how Canucks fans feel about fighting in hockey Frank Gunn, Canadian Press, for capturing the exertion and tension of a split-second play